Clamp.



C. L. HAGEN.

CLAMP.

APrLIoATIoN FILED MAY 2a, 1910.

Patented June 10,1913.

@ma/5M CLAUDE Il. HAGEN. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Application filed May 28, 1910.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. .atentiw`lhnelt), 1913.

Serial No. 563,393.

'o 0?/ 'infront 'if may eolico/'i1 Vle it known that ll, @nation li. lTAonN, a citizen olf lthe, United States7 residing at New York city7 in the borough olf lvlam hattan, county and titate ol .New York, have inventetfl certain new and useful Aimprovements in Clamps7 oit which the tollowing is a clear, tull, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvtal clamp, and j iartieularly to a clamp which is adapted to engage theatrical scenery by grasping the hatten oit' one or more pieces.

'lfhe object of the invention is to provide a hatten clamp which may be caused to readily engage the piece olf scenery and be locked in its engagei'l position against accid aital displacement.

lt lis a further object to so construct the clamp that it will lock in position varying thicknesses o't battons or other articles which it may surround.

,ln carrying out my in vtaition I provide a clamp having two hinged jaws. The hinged portion I secure to any suitable hanging means, such as a pipe running through a hollow sleeve or a cable passingl through such sleeve. One et the hinged jaws farries on its periphery ratchet teeth preterably on a port-ion thereot only. lhe other hinged jaw carries a j iawl adapted to engage thel ratchet teeth. The l'irst said hinged jaw carries a protecting guard which projects into the space between the two jaws, and guards the latch or operating end ol the pawl. 'lhe jaws tlie1ns \lves l prel'er to provide `with inturned curved ends meeting each other so that when closed, the jaws will lie substantially parallel7 jnoviding a space between the two to accomnuulale a theatrical hatten or other device to be grasped by the clamp.

The scope oi my invention will be pointed out in the claims.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure t is a 'front' View ol a, portion olE a hatten, a pipe on which the clamp may be mounted, and the clamp et my invention. lig. 2 is a view at rightiangles to Fig. l. Fig. El is a section on line SW3 Fig. 1. Fig. lis a section on line lwt Fig. 3. liig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l drawn to a reduced scale, showing a. spliced cable as a supporting means.

As shown in the drawings: the clamp is provided with two members; a member 7 provided with a guard 2, a hub 3 mounted to turn onv an internal bushing or sleeve l. l`he hub oll the member 7 is provided with a ratchet 5. 'lhe lower cml t? is preferably inlurncd as shown in Fig. 2. 'lhe other. member or jaw l is j )rovided with an inturned eml tu similar to the end (S oil" the member i'. lt is biturcatcd and straddles the hub il olfY the jaw 7 turning on the bushing fl. 'lhe bushing may be expanded as shown at il, Fig. t, to .tasten the two members together. 'l`he jaw member lv is provided with a web l() joining it to its hubs ll and l2. ln the web l() there is secured a sharl't I, on which is pivotally secured a pawl lfl, extending through the bilfurcated, opening, and adapted to engage the ratchet rt handle 'l'or the pawl lfi extends into the space between the two jaws, so that the handle will Al'orui a substantial continuation olvl the guard 2 ot the member 7. A springlt secured to the member l rests against the ratchet 5 to cause it to engage the pawl llll.

ln operatiom the clamp may be fastened to a cable 1T, which may be splicei'l as shown in llig. 5, or the ordinary transverse pipe secured lo cables reaching to the root may be run through the central bushing of tlie clamp. Huch a pipe 1S is shown in llig. '1.

ln operatiom the handle lor the pawl l5 is depressedj disengagiim; the pawl l'rom the ratchet 5, and the jaws swung open. In their open position they may be placei'l around the hatten 2() o'l` an ordinary scene drop 2l, or other device, and when the jarws are closed one upon the other, as shown in ll`igs. i! and I, the ratchet will lock the jaws in the position there illustrrted against danger ol' displacement.

ln carrying out this invention, details olf construction may be varied l'rom those shown. and vet the essence ot the invention be retained; some parts might he employed without others, aml new 'toitures thereof mightI be combined with elements old in the art in diverse ways. although the herein described type is regarded as embodying substantial improvements over such modificalions.

As many changes could be made in the above construction. and many apparently widely di'llerent embodiments o'lE the invention could be made without deiviarting 'lroin thc scope thereot", it int'endei'l that all naat`- ter contained in the above description or :shown in the rufcompanying d awings shall be interpretwl in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense except as defined by the appended claims. lt is furthermore desired to be understood that the language used in the 'following claims is intended to cover all the generic and speciiie features of theinvention herein described, and all statements.

of the scope of the invention which as a matter or' language might be said to fall therebetween.

l claim as my invention:

l. The herein described clamp, comprising two members, pivoted relatively to each other, said members being provided with inturned ends, and sides, substantially parallel one with the other when the members are in a closed position, whereby a space is provided between said members and above the intnrned ends thereof, a ratchet carried by one of said clamp members and located adjacent the pivoted end thereof, a pawl carried by the other of said clamp members adjacent the pivoted end thereof adapted to engage said ratchet, a handle carried by said pawl extending into the space between said clamp members, and a guard for said handle.

2. The herein described clamp comprising two members pivotally connected at one end thereof, a tubular hub carried by one of said members, ratchet teeth carried by said hub, the other of said members being provided with a tubular bifurcated end adapted to straddle the hub on the member first named, a pawl carried by the last named member adapted to engage the ratchet on said hub, the free end of each oit' said clamp members being inturned and adapted to meet a handle for said pawl entering the space between said members, a guard for said handle carried by the clamp member having the hub thereon, said guard and said pawl being located suiliciently remote from the inturned ends of said clamp members to provide a space for the reception of a member to be inclosed and a bushing adapted to hold said clamp members together at their pivotally connected ends.

Signed at Cincinnati Ohio this 19th day ot M ay 19.1.0.

CLAUDE L. HAGEN. Witnesses H. R. JAMES, LOU. Drrron.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. C. 

